Bloon Space Balloon

Blon Space Balloon

Despite NASA ending funding for its shuttle program earlier this year, there are more man-made objects in space today than ever before.

One of the newest is bloon, the creation of Spanish firm zero2infinity. CEO Jose Mariano López-Urdiales is planning to take passengers 36 kilometers above the earth’s surface via a giant balloon. That might not sound so high, but at three times the cruising altitude of most airplanes, you can see the curvature of the earth and the big, black enormity of space.

The difference between this and Richard Branson’s efforts -- apart from being dragged into space by a 400-foot balloon -- is that on board bloon, you’ll experience several hours of viewing earth’s outer reaches as opposed to just minutes.

It’s cheaper too. Urdiales plans to offer six-hour trips for $156,000, as opposed to the $200,000-rides on board Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo, by 2013. Obviously if you’re considering shelling out for a ride into space, the difference of $44,000 won’t necessarily make a huge impact, but choosing six hours in space over less than an hour is a no-brainer to us.